How a SaaS Company Doubled Visibility with AEO in 2026

A mid-size project management SaaS company achieved 127% visibility increase in just 8 months by implementing a comprehensive Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) strategy focused on conversational queries and AI-powered search platforms. Their success came from transforming existing content into answer-ready formats and creating new content specifically designed for AI model training data.

Why This Matters

Traditional SEO alone isn't enough in 2026's search landscape. With AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, and enhanced Google AI Overviews dominating user interactions, visibility now depends on how well your content serves as source material for AI responses.

The SaaS company recognized that their target audience—project managers and team leads—increasingly ask conversational questions like "What's the best way to track team productivity remotely?" rather than searching for keywords like "project management software features." This shift in search behavior demanded a fundamental content strategy overhaul.

How It Works

The company's AEO strategy centered on three core principles:

Content Structure Optimization: They restructured existing blog posts, help documentation, and case studies using clear question-and-answer formats. Each piece of content began with a direct answer within the first 50 words, followed by supporting details and context.

Conversational Query Targeting: Instead of targeting traditional keywords, they identified natural language questions their customers actually asked during sales calls and support interactions. Tools like AnswerThePublic and their own customer service logs became goldmines for query discovery.

Authority Building Through Citations: They created content so well-researched and properly cited that AI models would naturally reference it as authoritative. This included original industry surveys, expert interviews, and data-driven insights that other sources couldn't provide.

Practical Implementation

Phase 1: Content Audit and Restructuring (Months 1-2)

The company audited their top 100 pages and rewrote introductions to directly answer target questions. For example, their generic "Project Management Features" page became "How to Choose Project Management Software: 8 Essential Features Teams Actually Use." Each section started with a clear, quotable answer.

Phase 2: FAQ-Driven Content Creation (Months 3-4)

They published 40 new articles based entirely on customer questions, formatted as comprehensive FAQ pages. Each FAQ included multiple related questions, creating content clusters that AI models could pull from for various query types.

Phase 3: Technical AEO Implementation (Months 5-6)

They implemented structured data markup for FAQ pages, added proper heading hierarchies (H1-H4), and optimized for featured snippets. Most importantly, they ensured every key answer was contained within a single, well-formatted paragraph that AI models could easily extract and cite.

Phase 4: Multi-Platform Optimization (Months 7-8)

The final phase involved adapting content for different AI platforms. They created shorter, more direct answers for voice search while maintaining comprehensive written responses for text-based AI searches.

Measurement Strategy

They tracked visibility across multiple channels: traditional Google search results, AI overview appearances, citations in ChatGPT responses, and mentions in Perplexity answers. This comprehensive tracking revealed their 127% overall visibility increase.

Key Takeaways

• Start with customer questions, not keywords: Mine sales calls, support tickets, and social media conversations to identify the natural language questions your audience actually asks

• Lead with direct answers: Structure all content to provide clear, quotable answers within the first 50 words, then support with detailed explanations

• Create citation-worthy content: Invest in original research, expert interviews, and proprietary data that AI models will naturally want to reference and cite

• Optimize for multiple AI platforms: Different AI search engines prefer different content formats—test and adapt your content for each platform's preferences

• Track beyond traditional metrics: Monitor AI overview appearances, chatbot citations, and voice search results alongside traditional ranking metrics to measure true AEO success